A blog about Classics, linguistics, archaeology, cake, and more
This past weekend we hosted the British Epigraphy Society s annual Spring Meeting as well as papers and posters about current research in the study of inscriptions (from Mesopotamian cuneiform to poetry in Byzantine graves, and plenty in between), we had a visit to the Durham Museum of Archaeology to see (and handle!) some of Continue reading "Epigraphic baking: Oscan redux"
The New Documents in Mycenaean Greek (edited by John Killen) is the long-awaited update to the foundational work of the study of the Linear B tablets of Mycenaean (Late Bronze Age) Greece Michael Ventris and John Chadwick s Documents in Mycenaean Greek. This work was first published in 1956 (just four years after Ventris decipherment Continue reading "New book review: The New Documents in…
Presenting the most recent addition to my now very long-running series of inscriptions in various ancient writing systems in cake form: a cake version of an inscription from Pompeii, written not in Latin, but in a closely-related language called Oscan. Though Latin would eventually spread across not only the whole of Italy but also much Continue reading "Epigraphic baking: Oscan"
Regular blog readers may remember that during my time at the British School at Athens, I was experimenting with different methods of making clay tablets, trying to find out why the makers of these tablets in the Mycenaean palace of Pylos would have chosen different ways of doing so and how this affected their use Continue reading "Experimenting with making Linear B tablets"
I was delighted to find out recently that I d been shortlisted for my entry for the Classical Association s 2023 competition. This competition takes different forms every year: this year was photography, and the brief was to take a photo that fitted into one of several themes relating to Plato s philosophy. The theme of Shadows in Continue reading "Shadows in the cave, or, reflections in the…
It s been a pretty busy time since I started a new job in Durham, hence the blog has been a bit quiet lately! I ve been teaching classical Greek and Latin language, and also a lecture course on the history of writing a mixture of lectures on particular writing systems (obviously including my research topic Continue reading "Classical street art in Athens"
One of the first things a classicist does after moving to Durham is, obviously, to pay a visit to Hadrian s Wall: the wall begun by the Roman emperor Hadrian in 122 CE to mark the northern frontier of the Roman empire in Britain, whihc now runs across Cumbria and Northumberland. Housesteads is one of several Continue reading "A new (neon) gatehouse for Housesteads Roman Fort"
Nearly two years ago, I was preparing to move to Athens to start a new research project Writing at Pylos (acronym: WRAP), funded by the EU s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, at the British School at Athens. It s hard to believe that I m now in the final stages of wrapping up the project (pun very much intended) Continue reading "It s a WRAP: moving from Athens to Durham"
Last (for now!) in my series of virtual tours of Mycenaean sites, following Tiryns and Mycenae in the north-east Peloponnese, is this tour of Thebes in Boeotia, north-west of Athens (Myceanean te-qa Thēgwai, classical Greek Θῆβαι Thēbai, modern Greek Θήβα Thiva). This one is a bit different from the last two, because unlike most other Continue reading "A tour of Mycenaean Thebes"
Following on from last year s virtual tour of the Mycenaean site of Tiryns, now it s the turn of the site after which the Mycenaean societies of Late Bronze Age Greece are named Mycenae (ancient Greek Μυκήναι, modern Greek Μυκήνες Mikines). This impressive fortified citadel is only about 20km from Tiryns, which was probably a Continue reading "A tour of Mycenae"